Photo of the Day - November, 2020

[DT]

Taken this summer. I had a football field of beach on either side of me. This old guy set up camp in front of me after I’d been there a couple of hours. I don’t know precise beach etiquette but I sat there hating him for several minutes and then got over it. I like his umbrella.

View attachment 1406

He followed proper protocol ...

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Birdhouse in my parents’ backyard. They had a young pear tree that didn’t make it but instead of removing it we decided to use it for a birdhouse stand.

 

[Clix Pix]

An experiment I did this afternoon:

 

[Mark]

Birdhouse in my parents’ backyard. They had a young pear tree that didn’t make it but instead of removing it we decided to use it for a birdhouse stand.

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View attachment 1449

that's the nicest bird house i have ever seen. really well done - perched on top of that pear tree.
i especially like the variety of plants and trees surrounding the garden. a real nice space to view from the house.

is that a bee on top of it?

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well it sure ain't a partridge.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Taken this summer. I had a football field of beach on either side of me. This old guy set up camp in front of me after I’d been there a couple of hours. I don’t know precise beach etiquette but I sat there hating him for several minutes and then got over it. I like his umbrella.

View attachment 1406

Shoulda glued him to his chair and waited for high tide to come in.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

An experiment I did this afternoon:

View attachment 1451

Bubble wrap? What are you using for your macro shots?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

that's the nicest bird house i have ever seen. really well done - perched on top of that pear tree.
i especially like the variety of plants and trees surrounding the garden. a real nice space to view from the house.

is that a bee on top of it?

That is a bee. Good catch.

Here’s a picture of the water feature to the right of the pear tree birdhouse. There’s another birdhouse of it.

The house was new when they moved in and the backyard was just all dirt. They put a lot of time (and money) into the landscaping.

 

[Mark]

That is a bee. Good catch.

Here’s a picture of the water feature to the right of the pear tree birdhouse. There’s another birdhouse of it.

View attachment 1452

The house was new when they moved in and the backyard was just all dirt. They put a lot of time (and money) into the landscaping.

let them know we on TalkedAbout think they have done an amazing job.
just beautiful.
there might even be gold in those rose granite looking rocks in the lower left as well...

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

let them know we on TalkedAbout think they have done an amazing job.
just beautiful.
there might even be gold in those rose granite looking rocks in the lower left as well...

I'll let them know and I'm sure more of their garden will be featured in these photo threads.

 

[Clix Pix]

Bubble wrap? What are you using for your macro shots?

Yup! On MR, Molly in the Digital Photography subforum mentioned this idea today -- she'd submitted an image and said that she'd gotten the idea from another photography forum. A couple of us were immediately intrigued. So this afternoon I rummaged in the closet for some bubblewrap (found one nice big piece with the large bubbles) and went to work.....

Setup was on my dresser, which is adjacent to a window where I get lots of sunshine in the afternoons. Opened the blinds all the way, plopped a Replica Surfaces photo surface board down on top of the dresser, then did various experiments with the subject, a paperweight thingy that I've had for years..... Natural lighting only, Sony 90mm f/2.8 lens. I had a lot of fun and still want to experiment more with this, using the other, smaller size of bubblewrap, too....

 

[Clix Pix]

That is a bee. Good catch.

Here’s a picture of the water feature to the right of the pear tree birdhouse. There’s another birdhouse of it.

View attachment 1452

The house was new when they moved in and the backyard was just all dirt. They put a lot of time (and money) into the landscaping.

That is just the loveliest garden!! I'll bet they enjoy looking at it every day.....

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

That is just the loveliest garden!! I'll bet they enjoy looking at it every day.....

They do and so do I when I go to visit. I like taking naps near the water feature. It's like listening to a running stream in the background.

When they pass (70 and 77 now respectively) the house will become mine and I really appreciate all the prep work they've done ahead of time.

Yup! On MR, Molly in the Digital Photography subforum mentioned this idea today -- she'd submitted an image and said that she'd gotten the idea from another photography forum. A couple of us were immediately intrigued. So this afternoon I rummaged in the closet for some bubblewrap (found one nice big piece with the large bubbles) and went to work.....

Setup was on my dresser, which is adjacent to a window where I get lots of sunshine in the afternoons. Opened the blinds all the way, plopped a Replica Surfaces photo surface board down on top of the dresser, then did various experiments with the subject, a paperweight thingy that I've had for years..... Natural lighting only, Sony 90mm f/2.8 lens. I had a lot of fun and still want to experiment more with this, using the other, smaller size of bubblewrap, too....

I like the forum photo ideas you've been posting. Very reasonable to execute if you don't have a lot of photography gear to work with. My camera is the iPhone 11 with Moment lenses. It seems once you want to explore beyond that quality then you are talking some serious investment. Quality macro seems to be the hardest to achieve even with the moment macro lens, but that's also probably because I'm most interested in critter macro and they tend to not want to sit still in the focus area. That's difficult even with a better setup.

 

[Eric]

Birdhouse in my parents’ backyard. They had a young pear tree that didn’t make it but instead of removing it we decided to use it for a birdhouse stand.

View attachment 1448
View attachment 1449

that's the nicest bird house i have ever seen. really well done - perched on top of that pear tree.
i especially like the variety of plants and trees surrounding the garden. a real nice space to view from the house.

is that a bee on top of it?

I agree, this image is spectacular.

 

[Eric]

Last night's sunset.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Last night's sunset.

View attachment 1458

That’s epic. I just snagged it for potential sky replacement in other photos.

 

[fooferdoggie]

this is for my wife mom.

 

[fooferdoggie]

how is this for scrap from a job I do on a regular basis

 

[Clix Pix]

They do and so do I when I go to visit. I like taking naps near the water feature. It's like listening to a running stream in the background.

When they pass (70 and 77 now respectively) the house will become mine and I really appreciate all the prep work they've done ahead of time.


I like the forum photo ideas you've been posting. Very reasonable to execute if you don't have a lot of photography gear to work with. My camera is the iPhone 11 with Moment lenses. It seems once you want to explore beyond that quality then you are talking some serious investment. Quality macro seems to be the hardest to achieve even with the moment macro lens, but that's also probably because I'm most interested in critter macro and they tend to not want to sit still in the focus area. That's difficult even with a better setup.

Thanks! I love macro and have been shooting macro for many years. Last year I made a big decision and traded in all my Nikon gear for Sony, and came home with a Sony A7R IV and three lenses. Two of them were macro lenses, the 50mm f/2.8 macro and the wonderful 90mm f/2.8. The 90mm all but jumped on to the camera body just about every day throughout last winter. I absolutely adore that lens! It and the 100-400mm that I bought this past June are hands-down my two top favorite lenses. One reason I made the switch to Sony was that when Nikon brought out its new Z line, there were no macro lenses even listed on the "road map" for the future. Finally now there is but at this time, still no actual macro lens for users of the Z series unless they put one of their older macro lenses on the FTZ adapter. That was something I did not want to do. I've been very pleased with my new body and lenses and don't regret the choice I made last November. It'll be a year this Saturday!

I love to experiment. A lot of times I don't have any definite idea in mind and will look around and pick up some random object and think, "wonder what I can do with this?" and pull together a backdrop and a surface of some sort upon which to put the item, decide what kind of lighting situation I want (sometimes Nature decides for me when it's a very cloudy or rainy day) and then I slip a macro lens on the camera (usually it's the 90mm but the 50mm gets some action every now and then as well) and away we go..... Sometimes I'll spend just a few minutes, other times an hour can slip away while I'm busy exploring the subject as I see more possibilities as I'm going along. Sometimes I'll switch out lenses, other times I may change the lighting or the backdrop or add a prop or two. With lighting, I may get fancy and add a gel or two for different color effects. I just like to have a lot of fun with this!

As for shooting critters, I tend to go for the water birds and the smaller so-called "backyard birds," and the occasional cat or dog, but rarely any other type. I think it could be a lot of fun shooting Butters! Lighting situation, shutter speed and knowledge of a particular critter's behavioral patterns is helpful when shooting wildlife or domestic pets. It is easier to control some things such as aperture and shutter speed when shooting with a DSLR or a mirrorless camera and interchangeable lens. Also some so-called "bridge" or "super-zoom" cameras with a fixed, non-removable lens can be very useful, too, and although not exactly macro lenses, can be shot at the tele end so that one zooms in on the subject from a distance, which sometimes works very nicely with skittish critters. I sometimes use my Sony RX10 IV, which has a one-inch sensor and an amazing 24-600mm (35mm equivalent) lens to create closeups or pseudo macros. One of those all-in-one cameras can be really great not only around home but also for traveling.

It's surprising how much impact one can produce in an image even without a fancy studio with soft boxes, booms and other paraphernalia, and with today's amazing iPhones, definitely one can get some neat images, too. I don't shoot with the iPhone as often as I did in the past but I do every now and then pick it up and fire off a shot when I see something interesting away from home. At home I sometimes will use it as a preview of how shooting a particular subject or in a particular way might work or might not work. In general photography IS an expensive hobby, but as many people are finding with iPhones and other cell phones it doesn't have to be.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oops, almost forgot to include a shot of the day..... Shot this a few days ago: